Full Tilt Poker closing on May 17, to merge with Pokerstars

[Forum Wars]

http://www.onlinepokerreport.com/196...r-single-site/

Confusing at first, but makes sense. Seems like:



- Amaya will forget about constantly developing two different software platforms and just use the Pokerstars one for both brands

- Full Tilt and Pokerstars players will be merged into the same player pool

- they'll be able to get rid of software development jobs in Ireland (where such work is now done for Full Tilt)

- they MIGHT keep both brands in some markets. Or they might not --- point is they can...



Probably the right thing to do. Wonder if they will sell the old Full Tilt software (maybe already have an offer?). It's probably worth a several milly --- look at the crap Ultimate Poker (not UB) bought for several million when they were in NJ/NV...

[AT-6ed]

This will save PS millions. Look for the stock to go up.

$AYA

[Sanlmar]

This will save PS millions. Look for the stock to go up.

$AYA

Promise me you will sell all your worldly possessions (borrow from Pooh) and short Amaya the day they open shop in New Jersey.

Poker state by state will be a fail. Guaranteed to underwhelm. Jersey will be nostalgic for ACR & Bovada within a week.

Unless solitaire becomes a new thing.

[Starbucks Spunk Bucket]

More on this:

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news...e-player-pools

I always felt that pokerstars could learn from some of the things in Full Tilt, I actually gave them some feedback on this but they never listened: one of the cool things about Full Tilt is if you enter a satellite and by the time it finishes the event you qualified for has already started, it gives you the option to keep the T$ instead of going into a tournament that could have been going for hours.

I hate some things about PokerStars, especially their pompous support, or the fact that if you use a new card you're treated like a terrorist and it takes them days to unblock your account.

[Dan Druff]

This seems like a mistake, unless people really don't have a preference between the two platforms.

Right now they can appear to the average player to be 2 different sites. Even those that know Amaya is behind both may psychologically see them as two different entities. Indeed, they aren't run in identical fashion.

If they run the same software and look identical, that distinction goes away. This will basically kill the Full Tilt brand.

For example, say that I sold PFA to Mason Malmuth. If he quietly let PFA run the way it already is, most users would stay. However, if he changed PFA to look just like 2+2, and made PFA operate under the same rules as 2+2, this site would die almost immediately.

Sometimes it's better to keep two brands if they cater to two different crowds.

[Sanlmar]

Sorry Druff, the focus is the full platform. Casino, sports. Mobile. Not gonna support two fully integrated offerings.

Clean & seamless with one overriding appeal toward large scale gambling as entertainment. No muddled message and no confusion.

This is what the casino business has always been all about. Amaya is no different.

[ftpjesus]

Per Pocketfives earlier today. FTP will officially be RIP as of May 17.2016.

[Dan Druff]

Yup.

It's finally happening.

Full Tilt will be closing on May 17. All accounts will be merged into Pokerstars, which is owned by the same company, Amaya.

Over the coming days, Full Tilt players will be sent information as to how the merger will affect them.

Those with accounts on both sites will see their accounts merged automatically.

VIP Loyalty points, cash balances, and other account assets will all be switched over to their Pokerstars account.

A statement from Pokerstars says this:

Full Tilt players will receive a VIP status at PokerStars based on the level of play they achieved at Full Tilt, even if it higher than what they currently have on PokerStars.

Unused real-money ring game tickets and bonuses will be converted to real-money dollars and added to your account. Bonuses will be prorated based on the progress achieved towards completion. Players with unreleased bonuses purchased in the Edge Store will have the Full Tilt points used to purchases those bonuses refunded.

It appears that the Full Tilt software will update on May 17, and will look just like Pokerstars, except it will still be "branded" Full Tilt, and will use only Pokerstars accounts. All players can simply switch over to Pokerstars at that point, and never open Full Tilt again. They can also choose to remain on the new Full Tilt software, which will look and operate just like Stars, with the identical player pool and games.

A single account will now be used across all of Amaya’s gaming platforms including, Full Tilt, PokerStars, BetStars, StarsDraft and Duel.

Full Tilt was bought by Pokerstars in 2012 for $750 million, as part of a settlement with the US government which helped get players repaid. Full Tilt had previously closed in 2011 after it came out that they were broke, and had stolen the player balances.

It doesn't really look like Pokerstars got their money's worth. While the purchase did allow them to dominate the online poker market and grab their closest competitor, the brand had been hobbled by that point from the 2011 scandal. In 2016, Full Tilt was averaging only about 600 cash players at a time, just a fraction of the tens of thousands playing on Pokerstars.